d.c. to his beloved home state of alaska, former senator ted stevens is being remembered as a man as large in life as the state he represented for 40 years. president barack obama said, michelle and i extend our condolences to the entire stevens family and to the families of those who perished alongside senator stevens in this terrible accident. stevens was among five people killed in a plane crash monday evening. the aircraft was headed to a popular fishing destination, over rugged terrain and through miserable weather, about 330 miles southwest of anchorage when it crashed. they estimated there was about a 100-yard gash leading up the hillside as the plane traveled up the hillside and then came to rest. reporter: also on board that flight, ex-nasa chief sean o keefe. he was one of four survivors. since people in alaska use planes like automobiles, stevens was no stranger to these kinds of remote flights. ironically, he had survived a plane crash in the state in 1978. his first
stevens was killed. they say the aircraft hit a mountain with such force it left a 300-foot gash on the slope. abc s don guevara is following the investigation. reporter: nine people were on board that plane. it is believed that four of them survived. and those survivors had to wait overnight until search and rescue arrived. the plane crashed near dillingham, a remote part of southern alaska, more than 300 miles from anchorage. the crash killed former alaska senator ted stevens. former nasa administrator sean o keefe and his son survived. the passengers were on board this de havilland dhc-3t aircraft. abc news has learned the pilot was not in touch with air traffic control and had not filed a flight plan. severe weather made the rescue difficult. they pulled four survivors from the wreckage, transported them back to dillingham. reporter: in a statement, the stevens family said, we thank the brave men and women who are working to reach the site. stevens once had a dream he die
including former alaska senator ted stevens, but four survivors. rescue crews, it took them a long time to get to the scene of that crash, because it is a remote area, and because there were very bad weather problems. mr. shay, that commercial pilot who first spotted them said that when he flew over the area, the clouds were so low, they were almost down to the level of where the plane was lying about 1,000 feet up the side of the mountain. he s the he said that there was no evidence of fire when he overflew the crash site, and he said it looked like the fuselage had traveled 200 feet up the mountain after it impacted. also, the wings were on the side and knocked back, and he said that the whole front of the plane was smashed in. he said that he was very surprised that there were any survivors at all. we are still waiting for those survivors to be transported to a hospital here in anchorage, and meanwhile, there are expressions of grief and condolences for
abruptly ended his career by swearing at a disgruntled passenger and then triggers the plane s escape chute to exit the aircraft. allan chernoff is monitoring this story. what s the latest? this flight attendant steven slater has certainly gone viral. it s gained thousands of fans by the hour. it s now about 40,000 and the free steven slater facebook page has more than 11,000 fans. slater at the moment is out of jail in the south prongs rngs that after appearing in court today to face felony charges of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. he d need to post bail of $2,500 and authorities say slate ler do so. all of this after he suffered a bruise on the head during an altercation with a passenger who also cursed him. he responded by getting on the plane s public address system, cursing the passenger. he then activated the emergency slide, grabs his luggage, a few
captions by vitac www.vitac.com we are following the breaking news of a plane crash in the alaska wild erness that has claimed the life of ted stevens. and sean o keefe is confirmed to be among the survivors. casey wian is working the story for us in anchorage with the latest. what are you picking up, casey? reporter: well, wolf, we landed an hour ago in anchorage, alaska, which is a ways away from crash site. but i got off of the phone with a man who is a commercial pilot and he is one of two commercial pilots who initially spotted the crash last night, and alerted authorities that there was a crash, and that there were going to be victims. he told me about the scene of the crash. what he said is that the plane simply ran into the mountain. the plane was carrying nine passengers, and we have since learned that five of those passengers were killed,